Syntheses and thermostabilities of N-substituted maleimide copolymers. IV. terpolymers obtained from N-cyclohexylmaleimide, styrene and acrylonitrile

In order to improve the thermostabilities of copolymers obtained from acrylonitrile (AN) and styrene (ST), so called AS resin, terpolymerization of N-cyclohexylmaleimide (CHMI) was achieved with ST and AN in the presence of radical initiator in benzene at 60℃. The obtained terpolymer had much better thermostabilities than the general AS resin. Weight loss and glass transition temperatures (T_g) of the terpolymers were 10 to 30℃ higher than those of general AS resin. Number-average molecular weights and polydispersity of terpolymers were 1.7×10^5 to 3.4 x 10^5 and 1.7 to 2.3, respectively.